Blackie

If you’ve been to the San Diego Zoo recently and walked down Center Street, you may have asked one of these questions while standing outside of the brown bear grottos. I can assure you that all three resident brown bears—Blackie, our 25-year-old Manchurian brown bear, and 3-year-old grizzly bear brothers Scout and Montana—are all doing very well and are present and accounted for!
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Moderator’s note: One of our readers posted the following question, and keeper Kathy Hawk supplied an answer. We thought all of our panda fans would like to see it!

Panda Team: I watched Yunior’s early morning routine on Panda Cam. I’m curious about the training methods. I’m assuming that you were wanting Yunior to come to you? I noticed that you fed him treats and then backed off, avoided direct eye contact, and seemed to wait for him to approach you? Or is your method just to get him accustomed to having your presence in his space so you can approach him to pick him up? I’m just curious on the training methods and how they might differ between domestic animals and wild animals…
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Many of you are wondering about what type of schedule our pandas have….

The keepers arrive at 6 every morning to take care of the bears, with another keeper coming in a bit later for the afternoon shift. We feed the pandas three times throughout this period—they get a combination of bamboo, leafeater biscuits, carrots, yams, and apples each feeding. Right now, Bai Yun and Yun Zi are on exhibit every day from 9 a.m. to noon (guests must be in the queue line by 11:30). We will soon be working on a plan to transition them to the lower viewing exhibit.
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Now that Yun Zi is out on exhibit with Bai Yun in the mornings, many of you have been discussing the camera views in that area. The classroom cameras are all quite old, and during certain times of the day the angle of the sun can make viewing in that area difficult. Unfortunately, the panda facility does not have extra funds available to update the cameras in the classroom at this time. What’s more, it is also likely that Bai Yun and Yun Zi will not be in the classroom exhibit for the remainder of their time together. In the future, we will move them to the regular viewing area, probably into the spot currently occupied by Zhen Zhen. This will allow us to maintain only one exhibit area, with two public enclosures rather than three. The classroom will once again become a private, off-exhibit space for one of the pandas. Replacing a classroom camera now would only serve to allow a view of Yun Zi there for a short period of time.
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Yun Zi is growing and growing! The first time I held him, he was 7 pounds (3 kilograms); now, he is well over 20 pounds (9 kilograms) and very strong. In the afternoons, the keepers bring Yun Zi off exhibit with Bai Yun so we can clean it for the next day’s adventures. Ideally he would be wide awake, run after Momma and go out the door, into the tunnel, and bound into the bedrooms for the evening. But little Yun Zi is an independent boy. Most afternoons, he is sound asleep under the honeysuckle bushes. As a keeper, it is my job to wake him up and get him inside with Bai Yun. It’s a tough job cuddling a baby panda!
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First, let me say Happy New Year to everyone! Since Jewel’s dental procedure, we have had a lot going on around the Conrad Prebys Elephant Care Center at the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey. Jewel and her best buddy, Tina, spend most of their days out in Yard 2 (not visible to the public) or Yard 3 (near the Elephant Care Center). Tina, always the bold explorer, easily moves around the new areas investigating everything, while Jewel is more cautious and takes her time. By the third day, they both moved around Yard 3 with comfort. On January 6, they got to spend their first day exploring Yard 1 (the largest area with the pool). Having acclimated to other yards, they both seemed comfortable fairly quickly. Tina even stepped into the pool and splashed around a bit.
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As your blog moderator, I felt it was my duty to visit the panda exhibit this morning to see how Yun Zi handled his public debut…. Oh, who am I kidding? I went to see the little guy this morning because I wanted to!! I was not disappointed.

When I first arrived, I used my status (or rather, my name badge) to peek in on Yun Zi from the exhibit’s exit so I wouldn’t have to stand in the somewhat long line. He was sound asleep on the small hammock, and Bai Yun was doing the same in some branches just above. Oh well, I thought, that’s to be expected. After all, I’ve been the one warning folks that panda cubs do a lot of sleeping! (more…)

Birdsong filled the chilly morning air, and we spoke in hushed tones. “Has he been awake? Has he moved at all?” Such were the burning questions as Bai Yun rested comfortably in the fork of a tree and her beloved son Yun Zi slept like a log curled up in a ball on a low-rider hammock below her. If he would just stretch or lift his head, I knew I’d melt with cuteness, but alas, I had to settle for a sweet little black furry ear poking up. Employees came and went, grateful for the “sneak peek” even if there wasn’t much to peek at except two slumbering forms.
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Yesterday I sat in on one of the last of Yun Zi’s exams before he goes on public exhibit. We were hosting a reporter from the local newspaper, and I warned her ahead of time that as cool as you try to be in the presence of a panda cub, there’s a little part of you that is sure to melt.
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It has been a wonderful seven months since my first blog post about studying the Somali wild ass (see Wild Horses!) at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park. Since then I have collected behavioral and hormone data to help answer some of my original questions. These included figuring out how Somali wild asses spend their time and determining factors that cause certain animals to spend time with some animals but not others. What we have learned is that the Somali wild ass is an amazing social animal. They have associations within the herd that remain consistent, and those associations are reflected in their behavior. Since the last post we have had two newborn Somalis. Play behavior appears to be important in the development of this species, which might serve many functions later in life.
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